When I was a little child
and lived in my Kingdom,
in my Father's House,
And in the riches and glories
of my parents took my delight,
From the East, our Homeland,
my parents provided me and sent me forth,
And from the wealth of our Treasury
they had tied up a bundle for me.
It was large but light
that I might carry it without help:
Gold of the highlands was there,
and silver of Jazzak the Great,
With Indian rubies
and agates from the House of Qashan
Then they girded me with adamant
which was stronger than iron,
And stripped me of the brightness
which in their love they had made for me,
And my radiant mantle
that was measured and woven to my stature.
They made a contract with me
and wrote it in my heart that it be not
forgotten:
Saying: "If you go down to Egypt
and bring the one Pearl
Kept there in the midst of the Sea
that contains the roaring Serpent,
You shall resume your brightness
and your mantle laid over it,
And with your Brother, our Viceroy,
you shall be heir in our Kingdom"
I left the East and went down,
two Messengers being with me,
Because the way was risky and hard
and I was very young to tread it.
I passed by the borders of Maishan,
the mart of Eastern merchants,
And came to the land of Babel
and entered within Sarbug's walls;
I went down to Egypt's borders
and my compassion parted from me.
I hastened straight to the Serpent;
near him I took up my dwelling,
Till he should slumber and sleep
and from him I could snatch my Pearl.
Now I was single, I was alone,
I was a stranger to the sons of my kin.
A son of my Race, a son of freedom,
from the Easterners I saw there,
A youth fair and gracious,
a son who was anointed
then he came to me and was a companion;
I made him my intimate,
a comrade with whom I shared my Merchandise;
He warned me against the Egyptians
and against their ways of uncleanness.
Then I dressed in raiment like theirs,
lest they insult me that I came from afar,
That I might take away the Pearl
and arouse the Serpent against me.
But somehow or other
they noticed that I was not their countryman;
So they dealt with me with their cunning
and fed me also their food.
I forgot that I was a son of Kings
and served the King of their land;
The I forgot the Pearl
for which my parents had sent me,
And under the load of their foods
I lay in heavy sleep.
But all these things that befell me
my parents saw and grieved for me;
Then was announced in our Kingdom
that all the people should hasten to our Gate
Kings and Chiefs of Parthia
and all the magnates of the East.
Then they wove a plan on my behalf
that I be not forsaken in Egypt;
And they wrote a Letter to me
and every great one wrote his name on it.
"From your Father the King of Kings,
and your Mother the Queen of the East,
And according to what was in my heart
the words that were written in my Letter.
I remembered I was a Son of Kings,
and my free Soul longed for its nature;
I remembered the Pearl
for which I had been sent to Egypt.
Then I began to bewitch him,
the Serpent roaring and terrible;
I hushed him and put him to sleep,
for my Father's Name I uttered over him,
And the Name of our Viceroy
and of my Mother, the Queen of the East.
Then I snatched up the Pearl
and turned to go back to my Father's House;
Their raiment filthy and unclean
I stripped off and left in their land,
And I took up my road to come
to the Light of our Homeland, the East.
Now my Letter, my Awakener,
I found before me on the Road,
And as with its voice it had roused me,
so too with its light was it my Guide,
Which shone with splendor
before me on the road to be traveled,
While with its voice and its guiding
it encouraged me also to hasten,
And with its love it drew me
along the dangerous way.
I went forth, I passed by Sarbug,
left Babel aside to my left,
And came to Maishan the Mighty,
the harbor of the merchants
That sits on the shore of the sea;
I came to the boundary of the East.
Then my brightness which I had discarded,
and my mantle wherein it was wrapped,
Now because I had not remembered its appearance,
as in my childhood I had left it in my Father's House,
Suddenly when I went to meet it
the Garment seemed to me my mirror.
All of it I saw in the whole of me,
and also in it I went to meet my all;
For we were two in separation,
but only one in a single likeness
My many-colored radiance
which was raying glorious hues;
With gold and with beryls,
and rubies and agates,
And sardonyx of various colors;
While with stones of adamant
all its seams were fastened,
And the Image of the King of Kings
was fully depicted in it all;
And like the sapphire stones
so too were its manifold hues.
Moreover I saw that in it all
the motions of Consciousness stirred,
And as though to speak
I saw it also preparing;
The sounds of its tones I heard
which it spoke to its bearers,
Saying: "I am active in the works
for which they reared me in my Father's
presence,"
And I had also noticed in myself
that my stature grew with his labors.
Then in its royal movements
it was all flowing out towards me,
And on the hands of its givers
it hastened as though I should take it;
Also me too my love impelled
that I should run to meet and welcome it.
So I stretched out and grasped it,
with the beauty of its hues adorned.
And my mantle of glorious colors
I threw it all entirely on.
I clothed myself therein and soared on high
to the Gate of Peace and Adoration.
I bowed my head and adored Him,
my Father's Majesty who sent it to me,
For I had carried out what He had bidden me
and He too had done what He promised me.
Than at the Gate of his Princes
I mingled with His noble magnates;
For He rejoiced in me and welcomed me,
and I was with Him in His Kingdom;
And with the voice of spirit
all His servants were glorifying Him.
So He assured me that also to the Gate
of the King of Kings I should speed with
Him,
And with my Gift of the Pearl
appear with Him to our King.